Washington Redskins Fantasy Projections

UPDATED August 24th, 2010: Camp Updates Below.
At first glance, the Washington Redskins look like a team that could possibly put together a nice season. The faint, and oft underachieving quarterback situation has been resolved with the addition of Donavan McNabb, the backfield has a committee that seems like a three headed monster, and the receiving corp appears to possess a couple of breakout players.

But there are a ton of little idiosyncrasies that have to happen in order for the Redskins to be taken seriously in both the 2010 NFL Season, and the 2010 Fantasy Football season.

Division:NFC East – Projected Finish: 4th Place

Strength of Schedule - #8 = 8th worst. They play in the league's toughest division and get saddled with an ugly schedule to boot.

Quarterback:

Let’s face it, McNabb is a pretty damn good quarterback, but the crop of hands in Washington is a definite downgrade than what he had in Philly. Between the three of them, they are slower, less polished, and simply not that good.

The thing is, McNabb has worked with far less (Todd Pinkston anyone?)

The only issue I have is, Shanny and company are a run first type of coaching squad and if you add everything up I don’t see McNabb putting up quite the type of numbers we are used to seeing from him. He makes for a great number two quarterback, but not the guy you want to target early and high.

Running Back:

His best days may be behind him.

Shanny is a coach that knows how to get the most out of his ground game, but Clinton Portis has more mileage than a used VW bus, Larry Johnson has been on the down turn since his inflated contract in KC but remains the most talented, and Willie Parker is a bruising, deceptively fast runner, but has been hampered with injuries.

See a pattern?

The way I see it turning out right now is Johnson will be the number one guy, Parker the change of pace back, and Portis being the goal line option and possible third down back.

If you wanna know what to do, I say go with Johnson as your primary bench guy, and leave the rest of the Redskins' running backs alone.

Wide Receiver:

It isn’t as if the Redskins crop of receivers are the bottom of the barrel, but they are definitely NOT top elite material. Still, you can still wind up with a possible breakthrough player if you draft wisely.

Santana Moss is not the Santana Moss of old, and each year he gets a bit worse, but with McNabb at the helm that could change. The issue is, he may wind up playing out of the slot which could hurt his value in Standard leagues.

Devin Thomas improves every year and has great YAC speed, but could wind up sharing time making his projected value a bit low.

Malcolm Kelly is a big target, but lacks mental consistency and often misses his assignments. Kelly should still get the starting nod.

Joey Galloway and Bobby Wade were also brought in, but Galloway is basically resting on his own laurels and has lost a step over the years, while Wade is nothing more than a situational slot receiver at best.

Tight End:

Chris Cooley and Fred Davis could be the X-factor in the passing game, and both show excellent pass catching skills while making virtually no mistakes on the field.

With Chris Cooley coming off of a broken leg, one has to imagine just how it will affect his better-than-average athleticism and value as an over the middle option. Still, Cooley can catch the ball well, scores often, and with the trend swaying towards TEs last year, you can still view Cooley as a viable powerhouse TE.

Fred Davis was a pleasant surprise for fantasy owners last year when Cooley went out racking up 509 yards on 48 catches as well as leading the team with 6 TDs. The consensus is ,though, he will not get that many chances this year leaving his fantasy value in ruination. Keep an eye on him early though, just in case Cooley takes a step backwards.

From a philosophy standpoint, the Redskins will run a basic West Coast style offense to cater to McNabb’s abilities and limit the learning curve, as well as mixing in the old fashion run first approach which spells a lot of time on the field, but a more risk than reward style of play. Add in a not so friendly schedule, and the Redskins may not provide elite numbers, but should give SOMETHING.

Defense:

The Defense isn’t great, but they do have some key players in Brian Orakpo and DeAngelo Hall who should provide some IDP love for those looking for a hot early pick or cheap bargain. The other interesting CHANGEin Washington is Jim Haslett introducing his own version of the 3-4, but keep in mind, making a transistion to the 3-4 from the 4-3 is NOT easy, and it USUALLY comes with little success in the first year…tred lightly my friends.

Camp Updates 8/24/2010:

QB Donavan McNabb has been ruled out of this week’s preseason game (August 27th) with a sprained ankle which he sustained in their last week’s game (Saturday) against the Ravens.

The injury, and approach by the coaching staff, is more precautionary than anything else so don’t worry. But so everyone knows, his maturation as a Redskin QB is going quite well and he still remains a solid QB 2 QB in most formats.

WR Devin Thomas has been reported as possibly climbing up the roster chart but to be honest it isn’t worth a squit right now, and any news about him should be taken with a grain of salt.

The theme at this point in preseason is a watch and see approach, but in the end, Thomas will be relegated to something other than a starter and you should avoid him in your draft.

This should not be anything new right now. TE Chris Cooley has already assumed a much more expansive role in the Redskins’ offense, and has begun learning all the routes the receivers run in an attempt to open up the passing game. His stock continues to rise in ADP.

Got a question regarding your draft, or a training camp question? Let us know below, and keep checking back weekly for all of your training camp updates.

About Kurt Turner

Kurt's fantasy advice is featured on USA Today Sports, Bleacher Reports, SiriusXM and Fox Sports. He is the owner of FantasyKnuckleheads.com and has been butchering topics here for over 15 years. Follow him on Twitter

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